Another question, is there a spinnaker option for the Getaway? I find it a little interesting that the Wave has one, but I can't seem to find one for the Getaway.

I, too, found it interesting there was no spinnaker option for the Getaway. Last October I asked Hobie USA about it and they explained Hobie France had originally requested development of both the jib and spin kits for the Wave so it could be used as an advanced club trainer. The jib kit had sold well overall, but not the spin kit, which is why they hadn't developed one for the Getaway and had no immediate plans to do so.

Nevertheless, I wanted a spinnaker for my Getaway and suspected I wouldn't be alone! So I pressed the issue and, with Matt Miller's help and cooperation, I developed a plan to modify an H16 spin kit. I won't bore you with the details of my six-month saga, so to make a long story short, suffice it to say that on Sunday, 25 Apr 04, I achieved the first-ever (as far as we know) launch of a spinnaker on a Hobie Getaway!

In a word: Awesome! What a rush...

The good news is the H16 spin hardware kit is almost a perfect bolt-on; only a few minor mods and extra parts are required. The H16 sail may be a bit too large, but we now know the right size for the Getaway and Hobie will happily build one for you.

Does this mean Hobie will now "officially" offer a spin kit for the Getaway? I can't say for sure, but they've indicated they might now that I've given them a head start in the development, testing, and documentation.

If you'd like to see photos of the installation and the spinnaker in action, check out my web page (especially the Mods & Repairs section). There's also a copy of my DRAFT instruction manual--significantly updated from the stock manual--wherein I captured all my "lessons-learned." You can take a look to see what the project involves.

One last tip... if you do end up ordering a spinnaker, make sure to have Hobie e-mail you a color palette for available spin cloth. I think both sides will be happier with the result if you choose your own colors.

Good luck & enjoy!

Steve

Last edited by V-Ray11 on Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

If anyone's interested, Murrays.com just added H16 spinnakers and hardware kits to its closeout page--$395 each! That's $84 off the hardware and $200 off the sail!

As I've said, you can easily modify the hardware to work on a Getaway. The sail may be a bit too large, but that's a question I never got a definitive answer to. I don't know enough about spinnakers, asymmetrics, or cats to answer it myself. Maybe someone out there can?

The issue is this: The spin tang-to-pole distance is apparently shorter on the Getaway than on the H16 due to the H16's taller mast, which is also raked further aft. I don't know the exact difference because Hobie didn't have that data readily available. But I do know the luff of the H16 spinnaker--at 21.5 feet--is longer than the Getaway's tang-pole distance of 20.7 feet (which I measured myself).

Now here's the key question: "Is that a problem?" I thought so, based on the assumption the luff should be shorter than the tang-pole distance to allow tensioning the luff when sailing closer to the wind. Hobie never verified this, but they did agree to take back my first spin (which I never tested on the water) and cut me a smaller one with a 20.5 foot luff.

I haven't tested my sail extensively yet, but I will say its shape--as you would expect from a spinnaker--is much fuller than a standard headsail. Even with the halyard tensioned, there's still a fair amount of curvature in the luff--which, again, you would expect without it being hanked on to a stay. So how much curvature is too much? Using a stock H16 spin there would certainly be more curvature, but would this adversely affect sailing characteristics? Would you lose some ability to reach closer to the wind? I just don't know, lacking any previous experience in this area. Anyone? Anyone?

But IF it turns out not to make any difference, or IF you don't mind the difference if it does, and IF Murrays has a color you can live with, then... go for it! Join the club! You'll get in cheaper than I did!

(Or, of course, you could buy the hardware and have Hobie cut you a "Getaway" spin--that works, too!)

I finally got a picture of the spin in action as seen from another boat:

This was on Canton Lake last Sunday in 15-20 kt winds with occasional gusts up to ~25. I stayed mostly on a dead run (or "very broad" reach) and caught and passed a lot of swells. This was plenty exciting under these conditions (and we were trying for a photo op), but it was clear there was plenty more to be had on the closer points of sail! Mostly we kept our weight forward and the spin tended to raise the bows. However, when the big gusts came along we had to hustle aft to keep from burying the bows and possibly blowing out the 'chute.

Considering the crew's low proficiency level--two first-timers and a skipper with no prior spinnaker experience--we found the spin surprisingly easy to deploy, operate, and snuff provided everything is rigged properly. Rigging seems to be the trickiest part, since you need to avoid crossed lines, twisted sail, etc. But I think I've got it pretty well figured out and documented in the manual.

Steve, that looks like a blast! Thanks for making the effort to get a third-party photo. It's got a great 70's kind of graininess to it. Maybe that'll be on the cover of the manual! Great sail color selection! Now I don't know whether to invest in a spanker for my sloop or cat! Decisions, decisions...

Speaking of photo opps, I'm dating a photographer that wants me to wear my Captain Jack Sparrow wig to take some psueduo-70's catamaran shots in black & white. Then she want's me to doff wig and take some color shots of the Getaway's great sail colors. I've got some frames laying around the apartment that sorely need some sailing photos.

I took my considerably less tricked out Getaway sailing Saturday and was actually able to outrun a storm that blew up pretty quickly. I was able to get the mast lowered, using my rig before the lightning started to strike all around us. Before that though, we were able to sail about 20 miles in under three hours back and forth on beam reaches. We returned some floaties that has blown out to sea to some kids that I hope were the rightful owners. We also buzzed some pelicans that looked way too smug just sitting there. We packed up and were able to have a great date a the Houston Downtown aquarium. Sunday we rode the motorcycle down to Kemah Boardwalk. All in all, a great nautical weekend!

The graininess is due to the fact my friend used a disposable waterproof camera AND didn't get a good closeup. Thus what you see is blown up from a long shot on a cheap camera.

No, wait... actually, we MEANT to do that! That's right, we used a sophisticated image processing algorithm to achieve that look. It's "art"--yeah, that's the ticket!

NOW maybe it'll make the cover.

I love the colors, too, but can't take all the credit. What I was actually trying to do was "complete the palette" of the Islands color scheme shown on p.22 of the 2003 Hobie catalog. I just chose the closest bright orange, yellow and lime green available in rip stop nylon.

Sounds like you did, indeed, have a great nautical weekend! Not that I can match that variety & quality up here in OK, but I did at least have something decent planned for my weekend. There's a lake I haven't checked out yet that promises some interesting sailing and exploring. Alas, another dead calm Sunday--flashback to two weeks ago...what's up with that? Never even left my driveway. Oh well, next weekend, perhaps...

Steve- any new report on the spinny? My decision between Wave and Getaway is being based solely on the availability of a spinny package. I'm used to larger boats with an asym and could not buy a boat without having a spinnaker on it.

I contacted Steve (V-Ray11) about his modifications page and he said that he has a new web page with enough space to show all his mods including his Spinnaker installation.
http://steve.skybeach.org/sailing.htm